Trio shares love of fireworks through BestFX

Justin Willett

Saturday

Jun 26, 2010 at 12:01 AMJun 26, 2010 at 7:00 AM

Three Columbia men have turned their love of fireworks into a budding retail business.

Larry Dorman, Paul Love and Matt Hill, co-workers at Carfax, have been pooling their money and buying fireworks wholesale for about five years. Last year, they began selling to the public for the first time under the name BestFX Fireworks.

Dorman said their business is unique because they can offer quality fireworks at lower prices because they don’t operate a tent and have no employees. Customers can order online and pick up their products at the trio’s storage facility outside of Hallsville. “The stuff we stock is the stuff we’d personally use or have used,” Dorman said. “At a tent, they’ve got a lot of pretty packaging and big, flashy items. Some of our stuff’s in plain brown packages, but it’s the best stuff out there.”

Dorman is a systems availability administrator at Carfax; Love, who ran for mayor this spring, is a network administrator; and Hill is a software developer.

“We’ve been pooling our own resources and getting the wholesale rates for about five years,” Dorman said. “We all enjoy fireworks but didn’t necessarily enjoy how much we had to pay for them.”

According to the Missouri Division of Fire Safety, there are 25 permitted fireworks businesses in Boone County. Most operate tents just outside the Columbia city limits.

“We’re still a small operation,” Dorman said. “I don’t think we’re a threat to any of the tents. Our ultimate goal is for each of us to cover our expenses and maybe pay for vacation after the season.”

The business is online at www.bestfx.net.

BANKING IT

First State Community Bank of Farmington is set to close on its acquisition of Columbia’s three Premier Bank locations on Friday.

The deal was announced in March. Greg Allen, chairman and CEO of First State, said regulators approved the purchase about three weeks ago, but the switch has been delayed as they try to work out software issues.

Allen said First State sign installation will begin this week, but the Premier signs will remain until after business hours Friday.

Allen said that in the months since the deal was reached, staff has been trained and customers notified with the goal of making the change as transparent as possible. He said the majority of the staff has stayed on, so customers will see the same faces.

Premier Bank’s three centers are at 15 S. Fifth St. in downtown Columbia, 300 Diego Drive in south Columbia and 3200 Golden Bear Drive in northeast Columbia. Jefferson City-based Premier also has banks at the Lake of the Ozarks, in Chesterfield and in Texas.

Premier has lost tens of millions of dollars over the past two years as the amount of soured commercial and land development loans has grown. First State Community Bank, which has been in operation since 1954, is in a strong capital position and has continued to enjoy strong earnings despite economic conditions.

Allen said First State has gotten a warm reception from the Columbia business community, and he’s excited to be a part of the market.

“We’re anxious to get started,” he said. “The staff has just been excellent. We’re excited about it, and we want to be a good citizen in Columbia.”

BOOM TOWN

USA Today published a story yesterday that looked at cities that were surviving or thriving during the recession. The story singled out two types of cities that were doing the best during the down economy: college towns and state capitals.

The story highlighted Columbia and quoted Don Laird, president of the Columbia Chamber of Commerce, and Mike Nichols, vice president for research and economic development for the University of Missouri System.

The story said most of the jobs lost during the recession were in the private sector, and Nichols said funding from government, private industry and foundations for research generates about 10,000 jobs at or near UM campuses.

According to the story, Columbia has experienced average annual growth of 1.7 percent from 2006-09, down from 2.1 percent from 2000-06. Jefferson City, which had average annual growth of -0.1 percent from 2000-06, saw its growth increase to 0.7 percent over the past three years.

The story is available at http://bit.ly/cswMnI.

SELLING AMERICAN

Missouri Enterprise is trying to link the state’s manufacturers with opportunities created by the “buy American” provision of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The act includes some $16.8 billion for the Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy programs.

Missouri Enterprise has posted a form on its site that manufacturers can fill out and be alerted to any opportunities that match their products. To obtain the form and instructions on submitting it, visit the Buy American Opportunities section of the Missouri Enterprise website at www.missourienterprise.org or call Missouri Enterprise at (800) 956-2682.

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